The Cost of Time
by Dusk1989
Summary: Robin now in his early 20s returns to Jump city. Memories crash into him as he visits his friend Raven in her new home. Memories of what happened to his team and each of his Titan friends bring him to a dreedful decision. rated for language
1. Tough Love

**Hey there, yes another Teen Titans story. Anyways, this one is mostly flash backs so it was kind of difficult to write. It took me a while to figure out times and all, but i finally finished the rough draft...now i just have to type it up. This is a much shorter story then my usual stories, it should only be four chapters. You for Star, Raven, Beast Boy, and Cyborg. It's not exactly a cheerful story...i never could write a cheerful story. sigh oh well. So i proudly present The Cost of Time**

** -Dusk**

**p.s. I don't own Teen Titans...trust me you'd know.**

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The Cost of Time

Chapter one: Tough Love

A tall man in his early twenties stood on the shore of Jump City. He had not been to this city in over six years. He was dressed in baggy jeans, a dark red sweet shirt, and plain teeny shoes. His hair was jet black and spiked with gel. Blue eyes reflected the sad sight of a broken down "T" Shaped tower on a stony island across the waters.

"So this is what's left of the invincible Teen Titans?" He leaned over suddenly and picked up a stone. He clinched it in his fist as he straightened up. He ignored the pain of the sharp edges cutting into his palm. His hand was shaking and turning white as he squeezed it shut. "Damn you!" He screamed out, hurling the rock across the waters. "Damn you! We were supposed to be forever!" He screamed in a pained voice as he threw more rocks at the distant Tower. "We did the imposable! We could do anything! We had the whole fucking world in the palms of our hands! We were the TEEN TITANS!"

When his hands could not find anymore stones he fell to his knees on the sandy shore, tears falling from his bright blue eyes. "We were super heroes…and we fell like super heroes." The man sat there for what had to have been half an hour, until finally the incoming tide touched the knees of his jeans.

With a sigh Robin stood up on still trembling legs and turned away. Whipping the tears from his eyes he walked away from the shore, and the shattered monument of what once was. He headed into the city trying to remember why he had returned to this damn city. He tried to remember what would draw him back to the place that made him feel so weak, the place he had ran from so many years ago. His mind had become sloppy and forgetful over the years, memories constantly playing over and over in his head like a broken record keeping him up late at night.

"I wanted to pick something up." He murmured under his breath as he watched his feet walk along the side walk. He looked up and found himself in the middle of Jump City. He looked out at the street sign that hung over the corner. The sign read: Hoover St.

"_Hey Rae? Why did the chicken cross the road?"_

"_I don't know Beast Boy, why?" The Titans drove down the streets of Jump City. Cyborg was at the wheel, with Starfire in the passenger set and Beast Boy in-between Raven and Robin in the back. It was near noon and they were heading for the pizza parlor. _

_Beast Boy laughed "to go to MacDonald's for chicken nuggets!"_

_Starfire giggled as she always did and the others were silent._

"_Dude, you're a vegetarian and you just told a meat joke" Cyborg commented as he turned a corner._

_Beast Boys eyes widened "umm…oh man! I did…It was still funny, wasn't it?"_

"_BB, your own girlfriend didn't even laugh." Cyborg replied with a smirk as he looked in the rear view mirror to see Raven glaring at him. Ever since Beast Boy and Raven had started going out, which had been about a year ago, Cyborg had teased them both whenever he got the chance. He knew Raven hated it when he addressed her as Beast Boys girlfriend._

"_Yeah, but Starfire laughed" BB whined desperately._

"_I'm sorry Beast Boy, but Star kinda laughs at anything." Robin said with an unsure glance up at Star in the front seat. They had argued the night before and things were still a little tense between the two._

_He and Starfire had been going out just a little over a year and a half. Their relationship was a bumpy one. The two seemed to fight constantly. The team had always expected Raven and Beast Boy to fight, not Star and Robin, but that's how it turned out. BB had amazingly changed. He still joked and played pranks on Cyborg, but he had matured. He was now able and quite happy to sit silently with Raven for long periods of time. The two had miraculously grown on each other as their relationship grew._

_Star and Robin on the other hand started arguing more and more when they began going out. It's strange how love works; the team was now learning that._

"_Yeah" Raven murmured "Stars kind of creepy that way." Starfire just giggled more._

_Robin looked out the window as they made another turn. He looked up at the sign hanging over the street. It read Hoover St. "So Raven" He said looking over at her. "How long do you think the fight over veg. or meat pizza will last today?"_

_Raven looked over at Robin about to say something witty, but her eyes fell on Starfires window._

"_Raven?" Beast Boy asked watching her pale skin grow paler and her purple eyes widen in fear._

"_Cyborg! Watch out!" She screamed. But it was too late, just as everyone looked out the window a huge force hit their car sending them tumbling. Raven had let out a painful scream but Robin heard no noise escape Starfire lips as the truck hit her and Ravens side of the T-car. Robin could hear Cyborg curse and Beast Boy yell out for Raven. He himself seemed to be moving in slow motion. There was a pan running through his body like no other, but he didn't seem to notice it. He was able to feel the car roll, one, two, three…five times before it settled upside down. Robin felt the blood rushing to his brain as he hung upside down in the totaled car. His sight was blurred as he looked around. He watched as Beast Boy fell to the ceiling of the car and helped Raven out. Her eyes were closed and she was bleeding badly from a wound in her head. Cyborg slammed a fist on the upside down dash board._

_Robins' sight was fading fast as he looked over at Starfire. She had fallen out of her seatbelt and now curled up in a ball. The car door beside her had been crushed in hiding her legs. She had been trapped by the metal._

"_Star" He murmured. He pulled at the seatbelt and it broke letting him fall, now unconscious to the ceiling of their car…_

Robin held his eyes closed tight as the memory played through his head like a nightmare. Slowly he opened them again and stared up at the Hoover St. sign, his eyes shinning again with the threat of more tears. He turned away from the sign and quickly headed down a random street. The day of the car crash played over and over in his head, no matter how hard he tried to ignore it, he couldn't.

They had fought so much, not like Raven and Beast Boys' little shouting matches. Starfire had run from Robin so many times, a red hand print across her face. He loved her. He loved her with all his heart.

"Then why the fuck did you hit her? Why did we fight so much?" Robin murmured, looking down at his reflection in a puddle. "Hell, it was supposed to be Raven and Beast Boy who fought! Damn it!" He shouted stomping in the water and breaking the reflection.

"_Robin, please smile." Robin looked at the carpet of their floor as he sat at the foot of his and Starfires bed. It was initially his room and his bed, but Star had moved in when they started going out. They now shared the room and bed._

_Starfire stood in front of Robin her loving eyes on him. "We will catch Slade."_

_That did it. Robin snapped. He jerked his head up to glare at Starfire. "Damn it! No we won't! We never do, and we never will!" He yelled at her ignoring the sadness in her eyes. "We never fucking will!"_

"_Robin please, do not yell. You will wake our friends." Starfire pleaded. It was about two in the morning. Moon light shone through the large window as stars twinkled softly._

_Standing up Robin threw Star a threatening look. "I don't care!" _

_Starfire frowned. She tried to step towards him, but was stopped when he threw out a hand, smacking her hard across the cheek bone. "Starfire." He said, suddenly realizing what he did again._

_Starfire held a hand to her face, tears in her pained eyes. She stared at Robin with her pursing emerald green eyes before turning and running from the room._

Robin knew where Star ran to each time they fought. Each time he hit her. Starfire always went to Ravens room.

On lonely nights, particularly during a storm when Beast Boy got scared, Raven and Beast Boy would spend the night together in Ravens room. But normally Raven kept her room to herself. So whenever Star needed Raven, she was sure to be there. The two girls had grown on each other and considered themselves sisters.

That particular fight had happened the night before the crash. "We never really did get a chance to make up for that one." Robin murmured sadly.

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**So how was that for the first chapter. I love to hear from my readers. So please review. And if you must i give you permision to flame. It won't hurt my feelings. I might just have to hurt you but...no im kiding. As an author i am happy to get advice on whats good and what needs work.**


	2. Sweet Insanity, Pure madness

Chapter two: Sweet Insanity, Pure Madness

Robin walked along the city streets, a stressed look on his face as he tried to remember what it was he had come here for. The sound of skidding tires caused him to look up and he found himself at the edge of the city. Here the streets were full of pot holes, and a bum slept on every corner. The buildings were dirty and most broken down and abandoned.

A distant scream broke through the noise of the back-streets. Robin, just like everyone around paid little, if not no attention to the continues screams of the women. He had not cared about criminals in a long time. Besides his eyes were now glued to the walls of a dingy looking building. The windows were blocked by bars and a huge fence enclosed the building. A sadness over came his heart once more as he recognized the place.

"_Please no! Robin, don't let them take me! Please!" _

_Robin stood in the main doorway of Titans Tower his blue eyes hidden behind his mask. A harsh rain storm fell on him flattening his hair down, but he ignored this. His hidden eyes were on the seen before him._

_Two men dressed in solid white outfits held onto Raven as she cried out to Robin. She squirmed trying desperately to escape their hold on her. Her hair was messy and tangled from her struggle. The rain had drenched it and it hung in her tearful eyes giving her the appearance of a true mad women. Her cheeks were red from her screams and tears. The blue cloak she wore was mud from falling a few times in her attempt to escape. _

"_Please don't let them take me Robin!" She screamed tears running down her frightened face. "That place scares me Dick PLEASE!" Her voice was tattered in torn as she cried out. "I didn't mean it! My powers! I loved him…Please Robin!"_

_But as Robin turned away closing his own pained eyes Raven silenced herself and gave up the fight. The men then cared her away. Robin turned back just in time to catch her eyes cold gaze. "I'm sorry" He murmured._

Robin stared up at the building. "I'm so sorry Rae…I didn't know what else to do. You needed help." He began to walk across the street and headed towards the Insane Asylum.

"Hi is Rachel Roth still a patent here?" Robin asked at the front desk. _'Please say no, please say no.'_ He pleaded in his head. _'Please let her be better' _

"Yes, do you wish to visit her?" Robins' heart sank as the women spoke. He nodded and aloud her to lead him down long white halls.

'_God damn, no wonder these people are crazy' _He thought to himself as they walked. The tap tap tap of the ladies heals echoed through the halls nearly driving Robin crazy.

"Here we are." She said stopping in front of a door. She opened it and lead Robin into a white padded room. "If there are any problems, press the button and we'll come quickly." She said pointing to a red button by the door. It had to be the only color in this room. She smiled and left, shutting the door behind her.

Robin listened as her footsteps echoed through the building. As they faded away he turned and looked around. It was a small room. Everything was padded, including the floor and even the ceiling. _'Well that's pointless as hell'_ he thought as he looked up at the ceiling. There was a single small window protected by bars on both sides of the glass. As he looked out the window his eyes widened in horror as he could see the Titans Tower on its' island.

He looked down and saw a small white form under the window. He frowned and stepped forward. "Rae?" he asked kneeling down beside the form. He now saw it was Raven curled up under the window and wrapped in her white cloak.

Robin reached out a hand and rested it on her shoulder, only to quickly pull it away as Raven jerked around. She sat up and stared at him from under her white hood. Robin frowned as he saw not just age in her eyes, but madness. Her purple eyes were bloodshot and rings showed under them. Her face was paper white and strands of her grown out messy purple hair hung in her face.

"Raven?" Robin asked carefully.

Raven watched him a sadness now growing in her eyes. "Why did you let them take me here?" She asked with a hoarse raspy voice.

Robins' eyebrows frowned. "I…I'm sorry Raven, you needed help." He murmured

She only glared at him "And you send me here!"

"I didn't know what else to do. You were going crazy after…after what happened." Robin pleaded as memories flooded his mind once more.

_He sat in his office in the Titans Tower alone in the dark_. _It was about a month after the crash, a month after Starfires funeral. He sat back in his chair, his masked eyes dazed off as they rested_ _on a picture Cyborg had taken of Robin and Star, and Beast Boy and Raven. It had been at a Valentines Day dance that year. Robin smirked as he looked at the look of discomfort on Ravens face. It had taken Starfire over an hour to convince Raven to wear a dress and high heals. She stood arm in arm with Beast Boy wearing a slim fitting, full length black dress blue trim around the bottom and a long cut up the side revealing her high healed feet. Beast Boy had to have caught her about 50 times that night. She now hung onto him trying not to fall as Cyborg took their picture._

_Star herself stood beside Robin wearing a beautiful dress similar to Ravens, only hers was silver with bright red trim. Hers also had a slit going up to her waist. Starfire wore high heals as well, but she did not need help standing. She had pranced around the dance like the princess she always was._

_The boys had all worn tuxes. Robin looked a bit like a spy as he wouldn't take off his mask. Beast Boy looked like a little freshmen going to his first prom. And Cyborg looked…well like a cyborg in a tux._

_Robin looked up sadly as shouting reached his ears. It was Raven and Beast Boy fighting. They rarely fought compared to him and Starfire, but that didn't mean they didn't._

"_Damn it Garfield!" Robin sighed as Raven screamed at Beast Boy. "I said I don't want to talk!"_

_Robin zoned out the yelling as his eyes once more rested on the picture. Eventually it grew silent and Robin assumed the argument had ended. He jumped though when Raven cried out Beast Boys name._

_Robin ran to Ravens' room to see what had happened. Cyborg was already standing in Ravens doorway. Robins' heart leapt painfully when he saw the fearful disbelieving look on Cyborgs' face. He pushed past his friend and entered Ravens room. He came to a halt as the seen met his eyes._

_Raven kneeled in the corner her arms wrapped around Beast Boy. Robin gasped as he saw that the two were in a puddle of blood. Raven cried into Beast Boys chest, but Beast Boy made no move to comfort her. In fact he didn't move at all. His skin was pale, and his eyes dazed and glazed over as they stared at the ceiling. The truth of who's blood stained Ravens' carpet hit Robin painfully._

"_Wh-what the hell happened?" He asked._

_Raven looked up tears running down her blood stained face. "I-I didn't mean to." She gasped. "I lost control. I told him…I didn't want to talk about her. I didn't want to talk. Garfield…I didn't mean it."_

They had found out later that Beast Boy had been trying to talk to Raven about the car crash. He had wanted to talk to her about Starfire. But Raven didn't want to. They had fought about Raven never wanting to talk about anything. It had been one of the worst fights they'd ever had. And when Ravens emotions boiled over the knife she kept threw itself off the shelf piercing Beast Boy right in the heart. He had died before Robin even made it to Ravens room.

"I didn't mean it" Raven murmured pulling Robin back to reality. "Why'd you put me here?" WHY!"

"Raven, I-I'm sorry. I was only-" He reached out again, but a force field appeared between the two.

Robin sighed sadly and stood up. He headed back to the door and opened it to leave.

"He's gone…and it's all my fault." Robin heard Raven whisper before he closed the door leaving her alone once more.

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**well theres chapter two. I hope you all liked it.**


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